PRODUCTION NOTES

“There Is No Lid on the Sea” is the much anticipated film adaptation of the Banana Yoshimoto novel originally published as a newspaper serial from November 2003 to May 2004.

In the lead role of Mari is Akiko Kikuchi who also commands an enormous following among fashion-conscious men and women for her periodic “Mush” mook (magazine-book) series, for which she serves as editor-in-chief (270,000 copies sold).
Kikuchi plays the role of a young woman returning to her hometown from the big city to open up a shave ice shop, and embark upon a new life. The film co-stars Azusa Mine, whose first leading role came in the 2012 film “Signal: Luca on Mondays”, and now takes on the challenging role of a young burn victim girl dealing with both physical and emotional scars.

Also poised for a massive breakout is shave ice, which has been increasingly featured in TV and magazines.
The trend could be credited in part to a popular beach-side shave ice shop, “Noan” and its owner Kotaro Ishizuki who by redefining shave ice with inventive flavorings such as Japanese molasses and mandarin juice, created a shop that “people line up for even in mid-winter.” The sweet cold sting of shave ice is about to thaw a nation of frigid hearts.

Author Remark / Banana Yoshimoto
“My second home of Toi, Shizuoka was so beautifully captured in this film, and then to see the sincere performances of such wonderful actors at places that I and my family often visited; these things alone made me extremely happy.”